Objective: The present study examined mentalizing capacities as well as the relative implication of mentalizing in the comprehension of ironic and sincere assertions among 30 older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 30 healthy control (HC) subjects.

Method: Subjects were administered a task evaluating mentalizing by means of short stories. A verbal irony comprehension task, in which participants had to identify ironic or sincere statements within short stories, was also administered; the design of the task allowed uniform implication of mentalizing across the conditions.

Results: Findings indicated that participants with MCI have second-order mentalizing difficulties compared to HC subjects. Moreover, MCI participants were impaired compared to the HC group in identifying ironic or sincere stories, both requiring mental inference capacities.

Conclusion: This study suggests that, in individuals with MCI, difficulties in the comprehension of ironic and sincere assertions are closely related to second-order mentalizing deficits. These findings support previous data suggesting a strong relationship between irony comprehension and mentalizing.

Mentions:
Two participants out of 30 were excluded from the MCI group because of missing data or withdrawal from the study. Thus, 28 MCI participants were included in the final analyses. Figure 1 reports the mean (±SEM) total correct scores for first- and second-order mentalizing, as well as nonsocial reasoning of the Combined Stories Test. The analyses revealed that MCI participants had more difficulty than the HC group in correctly answering the second-order mentalizing questions, t(57) = −2.74, p = 0.003, and d = .98. However, the groups were comparable regarding their capacity to answer nonsocial reasoning, t(57) = −1.48, p = 0.145, and d = .16, and first-order mentalizing, t(57) = −0.51, p = 0.609, and d = .03, questions.

Mentions:
Two participants out of 30 were excluded from the MCI group because of missing data or withdrawal from the study. Thus, 28 MCI participants were included in the final analyses. Figure 1 reports the mean (±SEM) total correct scores for first- and second-order mentalizing, as well as nonsocial reasoning of the Combined Stories Test. The analyses revealed that MCI participants had more difficulty than the HC group in correctly answering the second-order mentalizing questions, t(57) = −2.74, p = 0.003, and d = .98. However, the groups were comparable regarding their capacity to answer nonsocial reasoning, t(57) = −1.48, p = 0.145, and d = .16, and first-order mentalizing, t(57) = −0.51, p = 0.609, and d = .03, questions.

Bottom Line:
Findings indicated that participants with MCI have second-order mentalizing difficulties compared to HC subjects.Moreover, MCI participants were impaired compared to the HC group in identifying ironic or sincere stories, both requiring mental inference capacities.These findings support previous data suggesting a strong relationship between irony comprehension and mentalizing.

Objective: The present study examined mentalizing capacities as well as the relative implication of mentalizing in the comprehension of ironic and sincere assertions among 30 older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI) and 30 healthy control (HC) subjects.

Method: Subjects were administered a task evaluating mentalizing by means of short stories. A verbal irony comprehension task, in which participants had to identify ironic or sincere statements within short stories, was also administered; the design of the task allowed uniform implication of mentalizing across the conditions.

Results: Findings indicated that participants with MCI have second-order mentalizing difficulties compared to HC subjects. Moreover, MCI participants were impaired compared to the HC group in identifying ironic or sincere stories, both requiring mental inference capacities.

Conclusion: This study suggests that, in individuals with MCI, difficulties in the comprehension of ironic and sincere assertions are closely related to second-order mentalizing deficits. These findings support previous data suggesting a strong relationship between irony comprehension and mentalizing.